When fans remember Gordon Hayward's time with the Boston Celtics, the first memory that comes up is the injury, and for good reason. It changed everything for the Celtics that night, as it forced Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown into bigger roles that they pretty much never relinquished.
While the Celtics have gotten the best returns possible out of the Jays, it came at the expense of Hayward never getting the shot he intended to when he first joined Boston. However, after he recently reflected on his time with the Celtics, it's a good time to remind everyone how tragic his time with the team was, and that goes far beyond that fateful night.
He left a great situation in Utah
Hayward was the best unrestricted free agent on the market in 2017. In his last year with the Utah Jazz, he had asserted himself as an All-Star on a frisky Jazz team that made it to the Western Conference Semifinals.
It wasn't like Hayward was alone in the Jazz's success that year, but he was the poster boy. They finally built a playoff team around him, and he had put it together as a jack-of-all-trades wing. To leave a situation like that for Boston was certainly a bold choice. While he may have joined a better team, it wasn't like he left a crappy one for the Celtics.
Making it worse was that Utah didn't skip a beat without him following the surprise success of hotshot rookie Donovan Mitchell. If those two had been paired up, Hayward's legacy in Utah may have been even better.
His addition was overshadowed by Kyrie Irving
Getting another All-Star free agent one year after the Celtics snagged Al Horford was a big deal. Boston wasn't known as a free agent destination, so those two signing with the Celtics was supposed to re-write the narrative.
Then, Boston struck while the iron was hot by bringing in Kyrie Irving, a bigger name and he was acquired from their biggest rival. Hayward and Irving together were the talk of the town in Boston, but, for understandable, Kyrie got more hype because he was the bigger star, he was considered the leader of the team, and there was more drama because he deserted LeBron for the Celtics.
Let's not delve too much into the Kyrie side, as this isn't a reflection of him, but bringing him in made many forget it was a pretty big deal that Boston got Hayward.
His injury took longer than many would have liked
When Hayward was talking to CLNS Media's Noa Dalzell the other day, he mentioned that the injury he suffered five minutes into his Celtics tenure made it the hardest two years of his career. Not one, but two.
It makes sense that he said that. The first year was hard enough being on the sideline, but he suffered an injury so traumatic that even after he was physically better, it was clear the mental hurdle was going to take longer when he resumed basketball activities.
Hayward's first year back on the floor was pretty disastrous to watch. It was clear his confidence was coming back in baby steps. Making it harder was that they were trying to work him back while juggling a few too many good players in their rotation.
Sadly, his example that year was the floor for what Tatum could have looked like when he returned from his Achilles tear. While Tatum has been demonstrably better from the jump than Hayward was, it only further shows how much internal strife Hayward was going through when he was trying everything he could to get back to the player Boston signed to a max contract.
His role was firmly diminished by the time he returned to form
Hayward had become an afterthought by his third year with the Celtics. By extension, that also made him one hell of a luxury, as he was basically fourth in the team's pecking order behind Tatum, Brown, and Kemba Walker. He looked like himself again, but his untimely injuries made it worse.
When he joined the Celtics, the common narrative was that he was the second-in-command behind Isaiah Thomas, then Irving. Soon, he became more of a connector piece than the main guy. It was the right decision for Boston to depend more on Tatum than Hayward, but it was clear the role he thought he was going to get with the Celtics was no longer there.
That was why he bolted in 2020, but that wasn't even the worst part of it all.
Hayward was supposed to continue his success with Brad Stevens
Every Celtics fan knew about Hayward's rich history with Stevens before the latter's affiliation with the Celtics. That's why it was such a joyous occasion in the first place to see the player and coach reunite to continue the good times they had when they were allied at Butler.
Seeing that not happen the way it played out makes it even more painful. There was a sentimental aspect to this reunion that got spoiled five minutes into his first game with the Celtics. Signing Hayward was a slam dunk for Boston in 2017. He was supposed to guide a glorious future, but he turned out to be a bust for reasons that were out of his control.
Luckily, it sounds like he doesn't have any hard feelings about his time with Boston. Still, it's hard not to wonder about what could have been.